


A Rough Guide To Writing Your Own Independent!Harry Fic

by BeastOfTheSea



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dark!Harry, Dumbledore Bashing, Independent!Harry, Meta, Parody, powerful!Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2014-12-26
Packaged: 2018-03-03 15:47:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2856380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeastOfTheSea/pseuds/BeastOfTheSea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Current specialization: the post-OOTP genre.)</p><p>In case you've ever wanted to write such a fic, but didn't know where to start.</p><p><b>Reader input encouraged!</b> This is a rough draft at best.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. So You're At The Dursleys

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the Independent!Harry genre. Currently, we're focusing on the post-OOTP branch. Others may be covered later.

Our story opens with Harry sitting in his bedroom at the Dursleys'. (Don't they all?)

Now, depending on your story, Harry may have turned his relatives into his quivering servants, left them undisturbed, or already be on his way to moving out. However, a great deal of stories choose to have Harry be severely abused after Sirius's death. This is felt to add more drama to the piece. Injuries may include blindness, deafness, broken bones, various profane inscriptions, or a full-body tattoo of Tony Blair. (And how is he ever going to explain _that_ one?) His personal property may be destroyed to varying extents. (Hedwig not excepted.) The general impression is that the Death Eaters are looking positively humane at this point, as the Death Eaters may indeed express when they show up.

Regardless, Harry's decided that it's time to get out of dodge. As such, he has made a list, mental or physical, of his plans and realizations about the world in which he lives. These will typically include:

  1. Dumbledore being either evil, an idiot, or evil AND an idiot. Popular pieces of evidence include leaving Harry at the Dursleys, letting Quirrelmort hang around in first year, hiring Lockhart, leaving Harry at the Dursleys, not giving Sirius a trial, not putting in an effort to withdraw Harry from the Triwizard Tournament, leaving Harry at the Dursleys, and have I mentioned leaving Harry at the Dursleys?
  2. Dumbledore manipulating him from the very start. Popular pieces of evidence include leaving Harry at the Dursleys, setting up the entire Philosopher's Stone plot, and generally setting Harry up to get into massive trouble only for the great Albus Dumbledore to save him at the last moment.
  3. Ron and/or Hermione betraying him and/or selling him out to Dumbledore. Frequently they will be actually on Dumbledore's payroll from the start. In Harry/Hermione fanfics, only Ron will be the traitor. Presumably the gender-switched version would hold for Dark!Harry/Ron fanfics, but honestly I haven't seen many of those.
  4. Number Four Privet Drive deserving to be bombed from orbit. No explanation necessary.
  5. That he should have been a Slytherin all along, and has been repressing his secretly-brilliant Slytherin side out of fear of persecution/turning evil/having to wear a shade of green that clashes with his eyes.
  6. ( **For pro-Voldemort fics** ) Voldemort not actually being such a bad guy, minus the entire "trying to kill him from the cradle" thing. Soberly regarded as an act of war, perhaps trying to kill a diaper-clad Chosen One and his parents isn't such a bad thing... Meanwhile, anything Dumbledore did as an act of war was, of course, evil. 



That done, Harry will sit back/lie down/collapse in a bloody heap and await the next plot point. This will be (at least one of):

  * embracing his true magical power
  * coming into a magical inheritance
  * having Snape barge in and rescue him from the Dursleys
  * having the Death Eaters barge in and rescue him from the Dursleys (which says it all about the Dursleys, really)
  * receiving a letter from Gringotts regarding Sirius's last will and testament
  * murdering the Dursleys in a way that positively impresses the Death Eaters when they show up later
  * writing a letter to the author's favorite character(s) in order to inform them of his utter dissatisfaction with Dumbledore, his former friends, and the universe



Depending upon the author's tastes, we will now hear that Harry has either become a muscled, hardened figure of MANLINESS or a long-haired male model noted to be shorter and prettier than most of the girls in his year. Regardless, he very rarely retains his former looks.

He may also acquire a random tattoo courtesy of his magic. Common designs include serpents, fairies, phoenixes, lightning bolts, flame patterns, tribal designs, flowers, and fruit salads. Okay, perhaps I was lying about that last one.

We now need to take a side tour into Magical Inheritances.


	2. Magical Inheritances

Ah, magical inheritances. Love them or hate them, we all know of them.

Common convention has wizards and witches coming into their magical inheritances at midnight on their sixteenth birthday.

In their most basic form, magical inheritances consist of a **power boost.** Harry may find that he's suddenly come out from under the effects of Memory Charms, compulsion spells, or a severe case of magical bondage. (Not the fun kind! That's for later in the fic.) In extreme cases, he may even lose the Horcrux. Usually, however, this power surge will just cause him to destroy his room, destroy Number Four Privet Drive, destroy Dumbledore's monitoring devices, writhe in pain for a time period ranging from hours to days, and feel much better at the end of it.

Very frequently, **his appearance will change** upon waking up from an inheritance. The most mundane of these changes is a several-inch growth spurt. Frequently his hair will also experience a growth spurt, and he'll end up with raven dresses cascading down to his dainty waist... oh, don't look at me like that, you KNOW you've seen prose just like that used to describe it. He may also grow long eyelashes, wide hips, or any number of other traits of the common uke.

A MANLY!Harry or dominant!Harry will instead gain a rugged facial appearance, enlarged muscles, and broader shoulders. And, yes, _that_ grows too. You know what I mean.

In some stories, he will find he suddenly resembles **a man other than James Potter.** This may mean that Lily was sleeping with someone else (Severus Snape and Tom Riddle are popular candidates), that James became MPregnant from an affair and married Lily as a cover, or that Harry is actually the son of NEITHER Lily nor James. (He may, for instance, actually be the son of Voldemort's OC wife, stolen from a creature line, or the MPreg son of some combination of Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, and Lucius Malfoy. Oddly, _Neville_ will sometimes be Bellatrix's kidnapped son, but never _Harry..._ missed opportunity?)

This covers the most conservative form of inheritance. Far more popular, however, is the **creature inheritance.**

In this case, Harry will discover he is now part-wizard, part... something else. Literally any option you can imagine can be substituted here. Naga, Hydra, Dragon, (non-House) Elf, (born) Werewolf, Merman, Fairy, Vampire... if you can name it, someone's probably thought it up.

By far the most popular, however, is the **Veela inheritance.**

Common conventions of the Veela inheritance are as follows.

  * **Veelas are incredibly alluring.** Fleur Delacour proves this in canon, but this may be taken to new extremes. Harry might find himself fending off every male from London to Berlin. Every male humanoid, that is. I have mercifully been spared the sight of any fics in which he has to fend off the amorous intentions of the Giant Squid. (That is not an invitation to leave one in the comments.) However, he isn't willing to accept those offers, because...
  * **Veelas have mates.**
  * Quite often these will be split into **"dominant" and "submissive" mates** , with dominants pairing with submissives and vice versa. Those experienced in other fandoms may recognize this dynamic as similar to Omegaverse - and indeed, **submissive mates are frequently impregnated by their dominant mates** , regardless of gender.
  * Equally often, they will have **predestined soulmates** whom they must find, either from Just Knowing, mystic dreams, or some magical ritual. In order to compel them to seek out these soulmates, they may die without meeting them/become infertile if they have sex with someone other than their mate/transfer some of their magic to their mates/etc.
  * **Malfoys are Veelas.**
  * **Veelas are more powerful than ordinary wizards.**



Whether James had latent Veela blood, Lily is an adopted Pureblood with latent Veela blood, or some combination of the lot is up to you. These conventions may be applied to just about any inheritance - I would say Vampire and Elf are the next most common.

At any rate, it is important to remember that, strangely enough, Purebloods never regard creature inheritances as tainting the line. If Harry is one-quarter Fairy, half Vampire, three-eights Naga, and one-eighth Hero Shrew, he will nonetheless be regarded as 100% Good Magical Stock. 

Indeed, many Purebloods will turn out to have magical inheritances. Quite often the Weasleys will be stuck with something atrocious like leprechauns, and the Goyles never _will_ be able to stanch that rumor about that one drunken night between their ancestress and a troll, but the Malfoys are _always_ Veelas in creature-inheritance stories. Snape may turn out to be a Veela or Dark Elf under a (terribly successful) glamour intended to keep every horny teenager in Hogwarts from humping his leg on his way in and out of the classroom. In some cases, even Voldemort will turn out to be a creature. Or Dumbledore, though that's terribly rare. (Frequently, authors will only expend ingenuity upon 'heroic' characters. In fairness, similar reasoning's behind the generic Purebloods and varied Order members in canon - here reversed.)

 

Regardless of Harry's new species, the next stop from magical inheritances is almost always to collect the _other_ half of an inheritance - the kind associated with cold, hard cash. Gringotts, here we come.


	3. Gringotts, or Who Wants To Be A Trillionaire?

Either because Harry's now re-enacting [Night Travels of the Elven Vampire](http://crevette.livejournal.com/113659.html) or because he received a letter regarding Sirius's will, he shows up at the front steps of Gringotts. He may well end up _owning_ the front steps of Gringotts, but that's a different matter.

We soon learn that Harry is possibly the only wizard ever to have been polite to a goblin, which is sadly plausible given canon. He may also actually recognize a goblin as Griphook, which pleases them further. Almost as much as they're pleased by the sheer size of his bank accounts.

You see, apparently the Potter vaults extend far, far beyond the one we saw in canon. Either that, or the Black vaults do. Throw on as many zeroes as you like. After some point, it just stops meaning anything. Let it be known, however, that inheritance!Harry could pay off the entire US budget deficit in the blink of an eye and have enough left over to buy Zimbabwe. Not their national debt. The entire country.

Of course, it helps that he's frequently inheriting the vaults of Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and/or Hufflepuff _**and**_ Merlin's _**and**_ Morgan le Fay's _**and**_ probably the remnants of the residence of Koschei the Deathless. Restraint is for sissies. (Personally, I find the fics where he somehow ends up owning Grunnings to be funny, in a rather twisted sense...)

In fact, he'd be even richer if Dumbledore wasn't siphoning out his cash. What? Yes, as Harry's magical guardian, Dumbledore's been pilfering from his vaults and distributing it to the Order, with particular emphasis on any traitorous former "friends" of Harry's. (Why the Weasleys haven't upgraded their living conditions if that's the case, I don't know. Perhaps they spend it all on the Wizarding equivalent of crack cocaine.) Furthermore, he plans to get even _more_ by marrying Harry off to Ginny Weasley, having Harry keel over early, and leaving Ginny to wallow in his oceans of cold, hard cash. Clearly this is unacceptable, especially as independent!Harry is frequently either A) gay or B) in love with Hermione. He's certainly not into female fiery redheads. (The Association of Protagonists With Oedipus Complexes sulks and marks Mr. H. Potter down as "not giving donations this year".)

Harry also has a vast list of _material_ assets - coming into possession of a half-dozen residences scattered across several continents is not uncommon. At any rate, it is clearly established that he did  **not** have to stay at the Dursleys. Several fall-through guardians are listed in Harry's parents' original will, and none of them are the Dursleys. In fact, Lily frequently includes a clause to the effect that Harry is not to be sent to live with the Dursleys at any cost. Which is of course why Dumbledore picked them as his  _first_ choice. 

Understandably, Harry will often pick around now to go through the roof.

If he hasn't _yet_ , it may be revealed through goblin-patented testing that he's under the influence of several magical bonds, spells, compulsions, potions, and/or Wrackspurts. (What? _Someone's_ got to say it.) Suffice to say, Harry's much less powerful and/or intelligent than he should be. And once those are taken off, he _really_ isn't happy.

Albus Dumbledore, guard your ass.


	4. Harry the Piñata

And now for a detour. What if Harry had to be rescued from the Dursleys?

Well, he's probably not in good shape. And by that, I mean that he's suffering such conditions as multi-organ failure, blindness, broken bones, a concussion, or... unpleasant escalation of Vernon's abuse. Whatever's happened to him, he's barely able to move under his own power.

Or he's turned the Dursleys into humanoid wallpaper, laughed maniacally at the Death Eaters who showed up as soon as the wards fell, and promptly collapsed from exhaustion as his magic dramatically swirled around him. Either works.

Whoever's got him now, they'll be running him in for examination. And what an exam. He's been malnourished, beaten, and made to watch [Manos: The Hands of Fate](http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/_Manos__The_Hands_of_Fate_1966.aspx) nightly. And that's when the Dursleys were being nice to him. That's on top of the psychological damage of, basically, being a human House-Elf. No matter how depraved his examiner, they'll be stricken with horror at what's been done to Harry, frequently weeping, raging, or flashing back to their own traumatic childhoods. And they will immediately inform everyone in the vicinity so they can share in the horror. (Except evil!Dumbledore, who may be getting off on it. A loose guideline for evil!Dumbledore's actions is to take anything resembling a morally proper reaction to a situation and reverse it.)

Once he wakes up, after an intense course of Skelegro, Nutrient Potions, and anything else the author may care to throw on, Harry will end up taking quite well to his rescuers. Well, anything _is_ an improvement from the Dursleys. This is a fine time to forge new alliances, realize that Draco/Snape/Voldemort has been terribly misunderstood, correct Harry's fashion sense, give Harry a new bedroom full of Slytherin hangings, condemn Dumbledore, discover Harry's soulmate, _etc._ (I gloss over it, but it's actually quite fun. Feel free to introduce your own OCs here, whether Death Eaters (for pro-Voldemort fics) or Aurors or neutral parties (for anti-Voldemort fics).)

The overall point of this segment, however, is to drive home just how abused Harry has been and how he's not going to take it any more. He may choose a new allegiance, a new appearance, and a new identity. Go wild. It's your fic, after all.


	5. A New Light... Or Not?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, right, Harry's canon friends. What about them?

**Sirius** frequently kicks off many of these fics. By being dead. Though some fics will reveal that he's alive and Dumbledore's captive, most will leave him as dead, but a benevolent mentor figure who loved Harry unconditionally, adopted Harry into the Blacks, and left him a _fuckton_ of money.

 **Remus** will almost always come around to Harry's side, even if he spends a good deal of time moping over Sirius (who was, as often as not, his secret lover). Dumbledore may have him under compulsions, be secretly driving his inner wolf insane, or drugging him into weakness with Wolfsbane. When he joins, he'll either learn to control his wolf painlessly or discover that there was no need to control it in the first place.

 **Tonks** has a 50/50 chance of remaining a blind follower of Dumbledore or hopping over to Harry. As in canon, her Metamorphagus abilities remain sadly underused.

 **Ron and Hermione** will ALMOST always be against Harry, though the fics where they aren't are a refreshing change. Generally, evil!Ron will be just plain evil, while evil!Hermione may be more misguided or deluded. Suffice to say that they're both about as threatening to powerful!Harry as Flobberworms soaked in potions of pure EEEEEVIL, though they may occasionally hit him from behind with unusually nasty hexes. The effects will clear up within a chapter or two anyway.

 **Ginny** has a roughly 90% chance of being an evil harpy out to steal Harry's inheritance and virginity and 10% chance of being a reasonable girl who teams up with Harry to kick ass and spy upon her more disgraceful family members. If "evil harpy", prepare for her to saturate any food that _might_ reach his lips in love potion. If "reasonable girl", she will often be a female, toned-down version of Fred and George.

 **Fred and George** will almost always be FOR Harry, though some fics bash the Weasleys universally and catch the Twins in their penumbra. Their most-cited reason for being fond of Harry is that he can tell them apart. As teammates, they demonstrate extreme magical ingenuity, excellent spying abilities, and more than a little sadism. They will rather often be in each others' pants. 

 **Bill and Charlie** are frequently on Harry's side. They make no particular contribution except in Harry/Bill or Harry/Charlie fics, but are pleasant to have around.

 **Luna** is ALWAYS on Harry's side. She has an unfortunate tendency to lose her personality in favor of it having been "a mask"; if not, her dreamy behavior is associated with Seer abilities. She and Harry may form a new trio with either Draco or Neville; regardless of whether she does, she is independent!Harry's best female friend. It seems everyone loves Luna.

 **Neville** is ALMOST always on Harry's side. The sole exception seems to be a few Harry/Voldemort fics in which Neville was raised as Dumbledore's backup puppet, but he at least seems to be merely ill-informed, obedient, and unfortunately-in-the-way there rather than outright evil. Amongst the teenagers, his power is second only to Harry, and he proves to be Harry's best lieutenant. He is frequently paired with Luna.

 **Mrs. Weasley** is ALMOST always evil. In fics where Ron is in Dumbledore's employ, you can bet she was encouraging him. On rare occasions, however, the Weasleys were completely unaware of the situation and turn against Dumbledore the moment they realize what he was _really_ up to. In such fics, she remains Harry's surrogate mother. Those are pretty danged rare, however.

 **Mr. Weasley** is evil about half the time. If he is, he is. If he's not, he's either weak and beaten down by EEEVIL Molly or under love potions and compulsions of his own. If he comes around to Harry's side, he may be paired with a miraculously alive Fabian or Gideon Prewett. Possibly both. (A few good!Mr. Weasley fics have evil!Ron and Ginny actually being sired by Albus Dumbledore, because apparently evil is strongly genetic. Don't think too hard about the nights they were conceived. I said don't. Now look what you've done... you'll need to Scourgify your own brains...)

 **Minerva McGonagall** may be a stalwart Dumbledore loyalist or a decent woman dreadfully deceived. If "decent", she still won't side with the Dark, but she'll certainly do what she can to reform Hogwarts from the inside out. Starting with "telling Albus to go jump off a cliff".

 **Aberforth Dumbledore**... is forgotten by most authors. Pity, as he strikes me as the _first_ to be willing to turn evidence against Albus given the provocation and opportunity...

Well, that's the main 'canon hero' cast that I remember. If I'm forgetting anyone obvious, remind me in a comment and I'll add them. I'll credit your suggestion in the Author's Note.


	6. So Dumbledore's Definitely Evil. Now What?

Unfortunately, you ask a good question. Many fics tend to peter out after Gringotts.

Supposing that this hasn't become a permanent WIP, however, it's now time to set plans in motion to bring the old bastard down.

Frequent elements include a training montage, mobilization of Harry's new friends and allies, and an interview with Rita Skeeter. Yes, she can be just as much an ally as she was an annoyance. Especially when there's such a _juicy_ scoop to write about the Chosen One's childhood maltreatment, Dumbledore's maleficence, and all that's gone on out of the public eye for the last few years...

At this point, fics get more varied, and so it's harder to predict where things go. (Though everyone receives new nicknames in quite a few fics. These may be listed further on.) Frequently Order members will be banned from any of Harry's properties, the Weasleys and Dumbledore will be bankrupted by an abrupt suit for all the money that's been taken from Harry's vaults, and Harry will go off with his newfound soulmate to shag each other silly for several chapters. If Harry returns to Hogwarts, he will probably awe the Slytherins, impress the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, and make the Gryffindors steer clear. &c &c &c...

The point is that Dumbledore's power is lessening, Harry is getting friends, family, and love, and everyone's gearing up for the great confrontation.  Will it occur? Who knows! WIP Hell consumes all but the most dedicated authors... *ahem* Sorry. Regardless, when the final confrontation comes, it will be awesome. And a Happily Ever After ending is bound to come.

The hard part, however, is _getting_ there...


End file.
